Shaine Mata Blog

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Image via Wikipedia"] [/caption] I've been experimenting, for the past two weeks, with a regular old feature phone, a.k.a. dumb phone , for basic texting and calling needs, supplemented by a 7 inch Android tablet. The results have been good in terms of productivity. When I got my first smartphone , I was so happy to be able to access email and be able to tap out a text message on a keyboard. It was a Palm Treo by T-Mobile. With GPRS , the best I could do on the web was WAP . I tried a Sidekick and other types. I finally settled on a T-Mobile Dash , which was awesome with EDGE. I was really rolling along on 2G speeds. And phones got better and could do much more at faster speeds; and I got slower and more distracted from doing my work. Internet services started targeting the mobile user. We could tweet, post photos, write blog posts, hang out on Facebook, visit full websites, an...

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Image via Wikipedia"] [/caption] Google + Circles are not YOUR filter, they filter YOU. It would be a mistake to create a circle thinking that it will limit what you read from that circle of friends. For example, I created a Foodie circle on Google+. The circle is where I post pictures of food and recipes. However, when I look at the Foodie circle stream, it contains posts about anything and everything my friends in that circle have shared publicly, which doesn't necessarily include food. On the other hand, when I post items to a specific circle, only those people in that circle receive my posts, leaving everybody who is not interested unaware. PUBLIC is the bane of the whole Circles concept. It completely bypasses Circles and blasts everybody with the same message regardless whether they are interested or not. As a blogger, my first impulse is to share with the world.  It r...

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="250" caption="Image via CrunchBase"] [/caption] I've been neck deep in Google+ since the field trial was opened up a couple days ago. I wrote a blog post about how Circles is nothing new to Google .  They've had a few runs at tailoring content for each of your audiences with Orkut , Wave, and Buzz. Like Facebook , grouping your contacts has always been possible on Google products; but, people aren't doing it. I can't say for certain why it's any different now; but, users are doing it. You could just as easily create Public posts for everything, like the default settings on their other services. But, the possibility of targeting your content to specific groups of people makes me re-evaluate how I distribute content. The Way It Is The status quo is to broadcast. Having a blog typically means you are broadcasting to the world, or a set of subscribers. There really are only two ...

Google Buzz has been capturing a great deal of my imagination lately. When I look at all the ways in which it integrates with other services, it seems like open territory waiting to be explored. The down side is that I have somewhat forsaken the other social networks. For example, Google Latitude allows you to check in to places. This works for now as I want to cultivate friendships on Buzz. In Buzz, I find that there indeed is a community; but, it's very different from the A-list social media crowd. It's kind of like what social media was back in the days. People share, discuss, and chat; but it tends to be a tighter group. Most social media big names have shied away from Buzz because they don't enjoy the same numbers of followers there. They will tell you all day about cultivating community and reaching out to your audience; that is, only if everybody jumps on the bandwagon with them. Otherwise, it's a failure. In the case of Google Buzz, it's actually a g...

My favorite desktop, web, and mobile app of all time, Evernote has slipped in a feature that allows you to copy the link to another note so you can embed it on the one you want. The result of this feature is that it creates a wiki-like experience within Evernote. I've tested the links on all three clients successfully. Evernote already gives you a great search function. In addition, you can organize information with tags, notebooks, and stacks. These are great with the exception that they don't organize information in a linear manner and require you to be a stickler for organizing the information or remember key words to be able to find the information again. Furthermore, creating a notebook for every single little project can result in a huge, unwieldy list of notebooks and stacks. The update that allows you to link to specific posts means that you can create a main project page with links to supporting notes, in a wiki-like fashion. Prior to the update, you could not lin...

I read a lot of comments around the Internet about the impending doom of Google Buzz because "nobody uses it". Not only do plenty of people use Google Buzz, it is a vital component to some of Google's other services. If you turn on the Buzz layer on Google Maps , on either the browser version or the mobile version, you will see a lot of Buzz bubbles displayed on the map, depending on where you live. Much of the pooh poohing of Google Buzz has come from social media geeks who don't see any of their regular friends on Google Buzz. Therefore, they assume that if the other geeks aren't there, Google Buzz is a bust. Thus, they haven't invested time in exploring all the options and possibilities of Google Buzz. One of the problems with Google Buzz is that it requires users to use it so it can provide value; this is especially true of the location-based features, which very much requires user data. Unfortunately for Buzz, many locations do not have pre-popula...

Groupon is a great service. They can get people in the door, no doubt about it. However, before you make the final agreement, be sure you can afford the deal. There are two types of marketing campaigns, awareness campaigns and lead campaigns. Awareness campaigns are generally a calculated loss. You hope that customers will remember you and visit again sometime. Many businesses are realizing that a 50% discount is great for bringing customers in the door, but not so great for things like, I don't know maybe, making payroll. A sales lead campaign, on the other hand, expects customers to buy something from the outset. More importantly, the cost of your lead is factored in so that you make a profit. I'm not saying you shouldn't use Groupon. Just keep in mind that you may lose money in the deal today. If the deal is done right, you'll gain new customers who might not have tried your business otherwise. Whatever your loss, consider it a marketing expense. It will pa...

You may have heard of the brain-bending exams Google uses to find new hires. You may not know too much about programming. Perhaps your talents are more along the lines of marketing and selling. So how do you work with Google? Well, everybody knows that Google makes most of their money through advertising. Those little ads that are all over the Internet and on search results generate billions of dollars a year for Google, because they work. The problem that you are solving, my Marketing friend, is helping local businesses and organizations get their websites in tip top shape and ready for online advertising . So far, Google has made tons of money from people figuring things out on their own. But, they need YOU to help the less adventurous business owners who want to advertise online, but don't know how to get started. There are a couple things you can do to get started in helping your community get with the times. You can sign up for Google Engage for Agencies . Through this pr...

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Image via Wikipedia"] [/caption] Recently, I've been posting to and exploring Orkut , a social network created by Google. Orkut is popular in other countries; but, it never really caught on in the United States. Facebook has eclipsed Orkut with their huge rise in popularity. I find Orkut fascinating because of how easy the service makes it so you can choose who can see your posts. While the process of sorting your friends into groups is roughly the same as on Facebook, Orkut makes the process LOOK easier. I recognize the group feature of Orkut within Google Buzz , except that Buzz has a tighter integration with your contacts. Orkut almost seems to live outside of Google. Some major disadvantages I find, besides not having anybody I know on Orkut, is the lack of ways to add stuff to your Scrapbook. A Scrapbook is the equivalent of the Facebook Wall. Except for Youtube and Blo...

Listen to internet radio with Tech in Twenty on Blog Talk Radio I'll be travelling up to San Antonio this week to meet up with Jennifer Navarrete and Jackie Adame to kick off Mobicamp San Antonio . One of the biggest obstacles we hear about not engaging in social media is that it takes too much time or is complicated. All you need is a mobile phone for most of your social interaction. The sessions at Mobicamp San Antonio should show attendees how easy it is to conduct business and create content on the go. The future of technology is mobile. Join the revolution.

Image via CrunchBase Earlier this month, Evernote announced their updated Android app , which has some long-requested features that bring it more in sync with the iPhone and iPad versions. Among the main features are Advanced Search, To-dos, and other updates that make using the app a much better experience. Advanced Search The Advanced Search is great in that it allows you to better filter your search results. One problem that I've had with Evernote, lately, is that I get too many search results. That's a problem when you save as much information as I have been. This is something that was missing in previous versions of Evernote for Android. You were only able to perform a brute force search . Check Boxes What most excites me is the ability to click on check boxes in Evernote to mark items done. I have struggled with making Evernote my personal organizer given that it contains so much information necessary for my work. In the older Android apps, you could s...

Image by bhenak via Flickr Twitter is analogous to 2-way radio. Many of the same dynamics that apply to radio communications are also applicable to how Twitter allows its users to communicate. Radio communications gives everybody in the group the ability to listen in. The ambient radio chatter gives all members of the group situational awareness of what is happening throughout the organization. While radio carries voice communications, Twitter carries text and background awareness of what is happening in the network.

I've been to the conferences, unconferences, and workshops. There is a real public desire to learn how to use social media for business and other organizations; but, too much talk about social media puts the cart before the horse. I think if you learn to create content first, it will naturally lead to the use of social media to help you distribute your work. First, let's make you interesting; then we'll talk about friending and liking.

Image via CrunchBase Just today, I downloaded the Springpad app on my Android phone. I have been aware of Springpad for some time; but could never really take advantage of it without the option of going mobile. Although I do spend a lot of time in front of a computer, I find that the information I gather while at the computer is most often useful when I'm out and about in the world. I rely heavily on Evernote because of its flexibility in storing information. I can send all manner of information to Evernote and access it on my mobile. The only downside to Evernote is that it is a blank slate, which also happens to be its strength. Springpad is handy because it has templates for storing many kinds of information. The available categories make organizing your information that much easier. Evernote, on the other hand, is completely free form, leaving it up to you to create structure, or not. While I love the universality of Evernote, sometimes I need some structure. It...

Image by shainelee via Flickr If an RSS feed falls in the forest of millions of websites, and nobody mentions it, does it mean nobody noticed? This is a bit of a late post, insofar as Internet speed is concerned. It's so last week. Well known tech guy, Leo Laporte, had a bit of a meltdown after realizing that his Google Buzz had not been updating ( http://leoville.com/buzz-kill ) his twitter with his latest posts. This caused Leo to question whether his social media presence is all in vain; because nobody noticed or mentioned it to him. This, in turn, has caused others to question how valuable social media is in terms of reaching audiences. Just to give you some perspective, Leo Laporte is a one-man media machine. He does the following: Live broadcast radio show The Tech Guy (techguylabs.com). Podcasts: This Week in Tech, iPad Today, This Week in Google, Windows Weekly, MacBreak Weekly, Security Now, net@night, Daily Giz Wiz, Munchcast Blogs at le...

Image via Wikipedia Magazines, especially the ones that print once per month, have pretty much laid out what their content will be from month to month far in advance. It takes a great deal of work to write the articles, hire the models, shoot the photos, design the layout, and all that. Unlike your blog, on which you can basically pound out an update whenever you feel inspired, magazines require a great deal of lead time . So, they have editorial calendars. We are not talking about personal blogs where you talk about your cats and pet peeves. If your blogging has a business purpose of some sort, then this is whom I intend to reach. Trying to come up with something creative and original every day or every week can be difficult. It is especially so without a plan in place. I realize it sounds contradictory to say that you need to have a plan in place so you can be creative. It really does help. Many times, when we don't know what to write about, it is because there are ...

From Stock Shoeboxed.com is undoubtedly the most useful outsource service I have found to date. In terms of value, Shoeboxed is one of the best investments a freelance/work at home person can make to keep track of finances. It would take me longer to do what they do; and, I would not earn money doing it. I signed up for Shoeboxed.com around the turn of the year as a way of tracking my expenses for the new tax year. I have tried other ways of tracking expenses: by text message, by instant message, by voice message, by evernote, and you name it. They all fail me because I forget to use them. I considered scanning my own receipts. So, I signed up for the free version where you scan and upload your receipts to the Shoeboxed website. This did not work out so well either. First, I haven't a self-feeding scanner that can scan skinny receipts. Secondly, I never made the time to scan the pile of receipts I gathered. In retrospect, if I were inclined to organize my records, I would...

I love social media. Make no mistake about it. However, one of the greatest examples of the limitations of social media is the use of these networks during a disaster. There are some glaring shortcomings when using social media to get your message out to the public. Limited Audience The biggest challenge to using social media to push information to the public is that not everybody is on facebook, twitter, myspace, or whatever network you choose. There are some people who live long productive lives without bothering with social networks. There are a bunch more who check their networks on occasion rather than daily. The vast majority are simply on a different network. You can't reach that many people. Access During a Disaster Modern living is highly dependent on electricity. In the event of a destructive hurricane, earthquake, or other event that knocks out power indefinitely, it is likely that many people will be unable to receive disaster updates. After all, batteries don...

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